River Island
River Island is a male and female clotheswear company, including 12 UK superstores, located across the United Kingdom, the Republic Of Ireland, Poland, the Netherlands, Turkey, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Singapore, and Cyprus. The name is known for being a leader in casual fashion. It began in 1948, by Mr Bernard Lewis (See below) in a small store in London branded Lewis Separates. Since this time, it has gone through several name changes (Chelsea Girl, Concept Man) before becoming River Island in 1989. As well as menswear and womenswear, they also stock footwear and jewellery.
The group is a family concern, led by entrepreneur and chairman Bernard Lewis. Even at the age of age 80, he is involved in the day to day running of the company, working not only through the week but also at weekends to keep the store group in a strong retail position.
Graduate Fashion Week
For the past two years, River Island has been the main-named sponsor of Graduate Fashion Week, and will continue to be for this year and the next. At the event, they offer the largest fashion education award available known as the River Island Gold Award. This is given to the student with the most outstanding collection and provides £20,000 for them and £2000 for their university, with items from the winning collection put into limited production, and window space designated in their flagship store in London to display key looks from the collection.
References
- The Times Business Feb 26th @@@@ B>C>C